


A Sweet Dream

by Fishykarp



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, Gen, Pyrrha Nikos Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-08-14 03:27:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16485104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fishykarp/pseuds/Fishykarp
Summary: A moment spared, a single second wasted, and everything would be completely different. A villain vanquished, a battle won, and just maybe, a life saved atop Beacon Tower that night. But the battle isn't over, and with another Fall Maiden with a vengeance hot on her heels, Pyrrha Nikos, along with Jaune, Ruby, Ren and Nora will have to overcome the perilous trek to Haven Acadamy, and prepare herself for whatever comes next.





	1. Nightfall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretty simple AU where Pyrrha survives Volume 3, everything else will happen close enough to canon, though it'll probably diverge a bit more come Volume 6.

_No!_  


Pain coursed through Pyrrha’s body, as a wave of flame slammed her against a ruined pillar atop Beacon Tower. Her shield, Akouo, had absorbed the brunt of her opponent’s blast, but still she felt her aura drain from her body. Her sword, Milo, shattered into three fragments strewn through the rubble. Useless.Looking up, she saw Cinder nocking an arrow, and quickly shot to her feet. She threw her shield to intercept the arrow, but a searing pain shot through her right foot. Falling to the ground, she struggled to get up, almost as if grasping for an invisible hand to pick her up, but the pain prevented her from standing.

The clicking of the newly crowned Fall Maiden’s heels pierced the otherwise silent night.

“It’s unfortunate,” she began. “That you were promised a power that was never truly yours.”

Cinder knelt down, and lifted Pyrrha’s head to look her in the eyes. “But take comfort in knowing that _I_ will use it in ways you could never have imagined.”

But Cinder wasn’t greeted with a face of doomed determination or resignation, but a smirk, and Cinder found herself pulled by the arm towards Pyrrha. The Fall Maiden looked down to see her impaled through the stomach with Milo’s severed head.

“Why, you INSOLENT little slime!” Cinder bellowed, kicking Pyrrha to the ground, and raising herself in the air with the powers of the Fall Maiden. Flames began coiling down her arms, lashing out at Pyrrha. But at that exact, the unmistakable sound of a Schnee Glyph broke through the night, hailing the arrival of a small girl in a red hood. Ruby Rose had arrived. Looking up at the scene, her friend Pyrrha dead or dying on the ground, unlocked something within Ruby. A magic of myth and legend she’d unknowingly been carrying within her.

 

“PYRRHA!” she cried, in her panic.

 

And everything went white.

  


  


 

 

 

 

Her ears rang so loud that it was almost overwhelming, her face singed by Cinder’s flames. Her entire body was stinging with various cuts, scrapes and bruises. But Pyrrha was alive, and she watched Cinder fall to the ground with a satisfying _crunch_.  


Dragging herself over to Cinder’s frail, paralysed form, Pyrrha forced herself to her knees. Cinder’s right arm was completely gone, burned off by whatever power Ruby had displayed. Her right eye shut closed, and her left eye glared daggers at Pyrrha.  


The invincible girl didn’t like to kill if she didn't have to. Even fighting through the fall of Beacon, she’d only seeked to disarm any of the White Fang members who had attacked her. But she knew that if Cinder was allowed to escape, allowed to live, she’d try to kill everyone Pyrrha loved. She’d try to kill Jaune.

 _No!_ Cinder thought as she tried to crawl away, _I’m not letting MY power go to HER. Or that damn hooded girl. Or those mindless peons Mercury and Eme-_

Slowly, Pyrrha placed her hand on the blade in Cinder’s chest, and thrust it downwards. Then, breathing in a sigh of relief, she collapsed.

  


Meanwhile, from the rooftops of Vale, Emerald watched as the broadcast feed on Mercury’s scroll began fading out.

“So it looks like we’re done here,” Mercury said. “Let’s get out of here.”

“But,” Emerald replied, “what about Cinder?”

“She’s probably abandoned us; she has bigger toys to play with now.” Mercury said, motioning towards the massive dragon and flashes of fire on the top of Beacon Tower.

“Well I’m staying here and waiting for her.” Emerald was adamant. “She’ll be finished with the tower in just a minute, and then she’ll be back for us.”

Suddenly, a bright white light emanated from the top of Beacon Tower. The Grimm Dragon that was circling the tower froze up, and fell to the base of the tower. “CINDER!” Emerald cried out

Mercury shrugged and began to walk away. “Welp. We’re done here.” “Mercury!” Emerald said. “We’ve gotta go help Cinder!”

“We’re hired goons, Em,” Mercury said with a sigh, “and our job is done.” “No,” Emerald said, with tears beginning to form in her eyes. “Maybe you don’t care, but Cinder’s the only one who’s ever shown any form of kindness to me. I’m going to help her.”

Mercury sighed, and turned towards the tower. “Fine, let’s go help Cinder.”  


But then Mercury froze, and Emerald turned to him. “Mercury?” “Huh, wouldya look at that,” he said, eyebrow raised. “She doesn’t even need our help, and she IS coming back for us.” Emerald turned to see what Mercury was referring to, a golden light flying from the top of the tower towards their current position. “I told you!” Emerald said. “Cinder!” But ‘Cinder’ didn’t slow down when nearing the pair, and in fact seemed to be going even faster than before.

“Wait…” Emerald thought. “That’s not Cinder.”

The golden orb that Emerald had originally thought was Cinder, hit her square in the chest, and felt a strange warmth fill her. Vision hazy and feeling as if she was almost levitating, she turned to Mercury.

“Wh-what is this?” “Em….” Mercury said, holding his scroll up. “You have to see this.”

Emerald looked at her reflection in the scroll’s camera, and recoiled backwards in shock. Her eyes were surrounded by, for lack of a better term, fiery wings.

Cinder hadn’t told her much, only what was required for their job. But Emerald did know was that she’d seen these same wings before. On Amber, the former Fall Maiden, when she activated her powers, and on Cinder, when she drained those powers from Amber’s unconscious body.  


What she also knew, was that these powers were transferred when the previous host died. Cinder had died thinking of her.

 

Emerald fell to her knees, as her illusions literally turned the sky black, and she wept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first RWBY fic, so all feedback is welcome. Expect the next chapter in a week or so. Or never. Volume 6 will consume me whole.


	2. Dusk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pyrrha, Ruby, Jaune, Ren and Nora begin their long trek to Haven Acadamy.

“BIG MISTAKE!”

 

Shooting up from her hiding spot, a sharp pain shot through Pyrrha’s lower leg, and she rushed to stabilise herself on her temporary walking stick. How she hated being unable to help Jaune and the rest of her team, but they’d insisted she say hidden unless she was really needed. She DID still need to recover.

Still, Pyrrha couldn’t help but feel useless. It’d been six months! A ruptured achilles tendon, with the surgery she’d been given, should’ve been healed in a matter of weeks. Yet, even with her aura, she could barely move unassisted. Granted, most ruptures weren’t caused by molten glass arrows, but it wasn’t right. She was the invincible girl, but she couldn’t even help when her friends were being attacked by an grimm-possessed earth golem with a flaming tree trunk for an arm.

She wished she could use her semblance to strengthen her temporary prosthetics, but the Atlas doctors warned against that, and who was she to disregard their advice? Something about the fragments of the arrow, made of pure fire dust, being unable to be taken out without taking the foot with them. Sounded stupid to her, she’d taken far stronger dust blasts.

Why were they even there? They should’ve disappeared when Cinder died. What if they’d stay forever? What if she’d be unable to protect her team when they inevitably faced the other orchestrators of the Fall of Beacon? What if they got another maiden? Pyrrha couldn’t protect them and they’d die and oh gods it’d be all her fault because they’d have to protect her instead of focusing on themselves what if she couldn’t-

The roar of the geist interrupted Pyrrha from her thoughts, and she looked up to see it directly above her, bringing its stone hand down on her. Just before it hit her, a cloud of red and pink rose petals slammed into the Geist grimm, destroying it. She sighed a silent sigh of relief as Jaune ran over to her.

“You ok?” he asked, with his bright, warm smile.  
Pyrrha nodded, “yeah, th-thanks.”  
“Good,” Jaune said, “because our new weapons should be ready soon, and Team JNPRR needs their best fighter.”  
“For the last time!” Nora shouted as she fired a volley of grenades at the geist, “adding an extra R doesn’t make it a new team! And isn’t Ruby the leader?”  
“RPNRJ isn’t a colour!”  
“It’s better than JuniPURRRRR”  
Pyrrha chuckled, it was good to be together again.

 

 

“There you go son,” the Blacksmith said as he placed Jaune’s new chestplate on the countertop. “It’s gonna be heavier than you’re used to, but you’ll thank me the next time you go up against a set of claws.”  
“Wow… uh… I don’t know what to say,” Jaune said, smiling.  
The blacksmith chuckled as he spoke again, “don’t gotta say anything! Just put it on! I’ll take your old chestplate an’ finish up with those weapons of yours.”

Placing it on the counter, Jaune looked down at his old chestplate, and sighed. “I guess I was gonna grow out of it eventually.”  
Feeling Pyrrha’s hand on his shoulder, he turned to her and smiled, “but we’ll always have eachother.”  
Jaune and Pyrrha turned away from eachothers’ gaze as they heard Ruby stifling her laugh. “WHAT. IS. THAT?”  
“What?” Jaune asked, confused. ”My hoodie?”  
“IT’S GOT A CUTE LITTLE BUNNY ON IT!”

Pyrrha allowed herself a small smile as Ruby burst out laughing. She hadn’t realised it, but she’d needed a little laugh for a long time. Everyone had. Ruby laughing and good-naturedly teasing Jaune, who was desperately trying to protect himself from Ruby’s jabs. Ren and Nora. It was almost like nothing had changed. Almost.

“Can’t have huntsmen without their weapons. Made all the modifications you asked for.”  
Pyrrha turned to see the blacksmith, returning with Jaune’s signature sword and shield, Crocea Mors, as well as her own Milo and Akouo.  
“That’s some fine metal you two brought me. They accent eachother nicely.”  
Crocea Mors had been given gold accents around the hilt of the blade, and the rim of the shield, with the design of Pyrrha’s circlet at the point. Meanwhile, the three segments of the reforged Milo were joined together with the white of Jaune’s old chestplate. Both shields had the notable addition of a new Emblem, an amalgamation of the Arc and Nikos Emblem, two white semicircles, pierced by a red spear.

Pyrrha turned to observe Jaune as he put on his new chestplate. He’d gotten so much stronger since they’d begun training together. She had tried to protect him from Cinder, but instead of helping him, he had been the one caring for her over the past six months. Was the fight with the Geist Grimm going to be every fight from now on? Pyrrha watching from the sidelines, distracting everyone’s focus from the fight as they tried to protect her?

Jaune turned to Pyrrha, and a look of concern washed over his face.  
“Pyrrha? What’s wrong?” he asked.  
“Oh,” Pyrrha let out a nervous laugh. “It’s nothing. I was just- disappointed that we didn’t have enough metal for that greatsword idea you had.”  
Jaune eyed her suspiciously, but seemed to accept the answer. “Oh, ok. That’s completely fine, your training is all the power I need, and you already sacrificed more armour than I’d have liked. You have to stay protected, you know.”  
Pyrrha sighed, but smiled and nodded. “Of course, I know.”

 

 

After a couple hours of walking, the group approached Shion Village. Nora and Ren ignoring the obvious romantic tension between them, Ruby trying to work out the map, Jaune lagging behind to chat with Pyrrha, walking with a modified Milo that doubled as a walking cane.

Ruby was the first to notice the smoke, and a wave of uneasiness washed over the group. The town in the distance seemed empty, lifeless, and looking closer, the smoke seemed to be rising from the centre. Pocketing the map, Ruby sped towards the village, with Ren, Nora and Jaune in tow. Pyrrha, unable to run, followed along as quickly as she could.

Arriving in the deserted village, Pyrrha looked around at the charred, still burning village. Buildings seemed destroyed indiscriminately, and the destruction seemed recent, maybe only a few hours ago. If- if she had just been faster. If she wasn’t there to slow down the group, they could’ve made it in time to save the village. But because they were slowed down – because of her – they were too late.

Approaching the others, she saw that they were gathered near a man lying limp on a ruined wall. A huntsman. Just like her. And just like her, he fought to protect his home and those that he cared about. And just like her, he had failed. But unlike Pyrrha, he hadn’t been saved at the last moment. A chill travelled down her spine.

Pyrrha turned to see Ren and Nora staring at a large hoof print on the ground, one that must’ve been left by a massive Grimm. A fresh one. It was still nearby, she realised. If she stayed the burden on the team that she was, they could be too preoccupied protecting her, that they wouldn’t be able to beat the Grimm. She’d need to train a lot harder moving forward.

 

 

 

 

Later that night, Ruby woke up in a cold sweat. She swore she could hear Pyrrha scream, followed by Jaune shouting her name. Following the sound of Jaune’s voice, she left their sleeping area, and arrived at a forest clearing lit by fireflies and the moon. In the middle of the clearing stood Pyrrha, standing with Milo in walking-cane form.

 

“Alright, Pyrrha,” Jaune’s voice echoed from beside a nearby tree. “Again, just like we’ve been practicing.”  
“Make sure to be balanced,” Pyrrha adjusted her stance.  
“Take a deep breath,” Pyrrha visibly calmed herself.  
“Don’t forget to keep pressure on your left foot,” Pyrrha shifted her weight onto her good foot.  
“Ready?” Pyrrha nodded. “Go.”

Pyrrha released her grip on Milo, letting it fall to the floor. For a few seconds, Pyrrha managed to stand up straight, but before long, she buckled under her own weight. She screamed as she fell and forced herself back up, only to fall again. And again. And again.

“Ok Pyrrha,” Jaune said, “I think it’s time for us to take a break.”  
“I know this can be frustrating,” Jaune said softly, upon seeing tears forming on Pyrrha’s face. “And it feel like so much effort to progress such a small amount.”  
“But…” he pulled Pyrrha into an embrace, “I want you to know that I am proud of you. I’ve never met someone so determined to better themself. You’ve grown so much since we-“  
“Jaune,” Pyrrha cut him off as she buried her head into his hoodie. “What’s the point? I’m never going to be able to run and fight like I used to, and without that, I’m useless. Why do you- why do you still-”  
“Pyrrha,” Jaune whispered, “I… I want you to know that I am just happy to be a part of your life. I’ll **always** be here for you, Pyrrha.”  
And just like that, Jaune leaned in for a kiss, and Pyrrha, allowing her thoughts to wash away for just a moment, met his lips with hers.

Smiling, Ruby turned away, back to camp.

 

 

 

 

 

But Ruby wasn’t the only watcher that night. And from the bushes, a flame ignited in Emerald’s hand. Pyrrha Nikos, the girl who took away the only family that she had. She will pay. Soon, but not yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back. And only half a week later than I promised too! I also changed the fic title from 'A Sweet Illusion' to 'A Sweet Dream' so apologies if that ended up being confusing in any way.
> 
> Wow, I honestly didn't think I'd end up writing so much on the first two episodes alone, but at least the next three episodes have barely any team JNPRR. Sorry if you were looking for a bit more Fall Maiden Emerald too, but I figured the chapter had a good conclusion where it did, and next chapter should have a lot more of her.
> 
> Again, any criticisms would be appreciated.


	3. Midnight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pyrrha Nikos and her new team are rescued from Tyrian Callows' ambush, by Ruby Rose's uncle Qrow, unaware of the true ambush laid by Emerald Sustrai nearby.

The wall of the building burst open, and Qrow Branwen’s scythe caught Tyrian’s tail mid-jab. From her mountaintop viewpoint, Emerald smirked. It’d taken a lot to get Branwen to reveal himself, he seemed to see through all her illusions and previous attempts to draw him out. But now, he was out in the open, and their trap could be sprung. Sure, Ruby had to be taken in alive, but the others… 

“Em?” Mercury waved his hand in front of Emerald’s face, snapping out of her thoughts. “We gotta get down there, so if you’d stop brooding.”  
“Of course, of course,” Emerald said, “just give me a moment.”  
Concentrating, she willed the winds to lift her up, and began to move herself towards the raging battle. But as quickly as they came, she felt the winds leave her side, and she fell to the ground, tumbling down the mountain.  
  
“Emerald!” Mercury shouted, making his way down. “Are you alright?”  
Emerald shakily stood up, wiping mud off of her clothing. Her aura had protected her, for the most part, but she was still caked in dirt and blood. Every part of her body stung with tiny cuts and grazes. She tried to stand, but soon collapsed under her own weight.  
  
“Emerald, stay here for a bit,” Mercury said, “Tyrian can handle himself, he – well, you’ve seen him fight before, so I’ll grab Ruby and when you’ve recovered we-“  
“Why?”  
Mercury turned to her, “what?”  
“Why does this keep happening? These powers, they shouldn’t be doing this! The maiden we fought had no problem using them! Why don’t they work for me?”  
Mercury shook his head, “I don’t know, maybe it just takes time.”  
“We’ve already HAD time!” Emerald said, “almost more time than Cinder had her half of the powers.”

Her mention of Cinder derailed Emerald mid-rant, as her mind went back to that night at Beacon. Cinder, who fought Ozpin head-on and won, but then lost against two regular students. Cinder, who had Emerald in her final thoughts, who chose Emerald to carry on her work. Cinder, who Emerald should’ve been there to protect, as Cinder would’ve done for her.

“I’m just not as strong as her, am I?” Emerald said, “she saved me, she trusted me, she gave me a family. And I’m failing her.”  
Emerald stood up, blocking out the stinging cuts, “I’m fine, I don’t need these powers to fight. We can’t let any of them escape.”  
Mercury in tow, Emerald marched through the forest, towards the battle.

 

* * *

  

“Stay away from her!”   

Qrow struggled to pull himself from the rubble of another destroyed building, as Tyrian made his way towards an unconscious Ruby. Jaune, weaponless, stood in his way, desperately trying to halt his advance. Tyrian leapt up, landing on Jaune’s shield, and hooked his wrist-mounted blade onto the rim of the shield. Flipping backwards, he pulled the shield away, launching it at Nora.

Pyrrha, having noticed Tyrian’s stinger poised to strike Jaune, jumped from where she was hiding. She threw Milo and Akouo in quick succession, diving into a roll and then breaking into a run. She winced as her right foot hit the ground but focused her semblance to fortify the prosthetics in her leg, helping her keep her balance. Tyrian’s head turned nearly ninety degrees. His mouth broke into a wide, psychotic smile. He spun, kicking Jaune in the chest and knocking him back. From there, he knocked Akouo with his tail, sending it veering off-course, and with his left hand, grabbed Milo’s handle.

Pyrrha surged forwards, throwing three punches in quick succession, which Tyrian blocked with his tail. Tyrian then wrapped his tail around Pyrrha’s right hand, lifting her off of her feet. Tyrian’s tail coiled up Pyrrha’s arm, to her exposed shoulder, and plunged it into her arm. At the same time jabbing downwards with Milo, impaling Pyrrha’s right foot with its spearhead. In the same spot that Cinder’s arrow had entered.

A second passed. Tyrian broke into a maniacal laugh, and then his laughs turned to cries of pain. Pyrrha’s shield, carried by her magnetism, flew in and sliced a considerable portion of his tail off. As Tyrian recoiled back, he pulled Milo out of Pyrrha’s foot, and Pyrrha felt something stir within. The shards of fire dust, left from Cinder’s arrow, had been shaken by the prosthetics in Pyrrha’s leg and the initial impact of her run. It had reached its breaking point. Fire erupted from the wound in Pyrrha’s foot, rising up Milo’s handle and consuming everything below Tyrian’s elbow. When the fire died, Pyrrha’s foot and Tyrian’s hand had been completely burned away.

 Staggering back, Tyrian had barely any time to react, as Qrow finally freed himself from the wreckage he’d been trapped in, and tackled him to the ground.  Ren and Nora ran close behind, leaving Tyrian no option to escape.

“Pyrrha!” Jaune caught Pyrrha as she collapsed, exhausted. “Why did you do that?”  
“To protect-“ Pyrrha replied, “to protect you.”  
“Pyrrha, no.” Jaune said, “I almost lost you once. I’d rather die than let that happen again.”  
“No! Jaune! You don’t understand!” Pyrrha shouted, “I should’ve been able to beat Cinder that night. When the tower fell. I failed, I wasn’t able to protect everyone I cared about. I won’t fail again.”

 

* * *

 

 

But from a side street, Emerald and Mercury were having their own similar conversation.  
“Em!” Mercury nearly collapsed from exhaustion when he caught up to Emerald. “What are you doing?”  
“I have to-“ Emerald replied, “I have to avenge Cinder.”  
“Em, no.” Mercury said, “You lost Cinder and that hurt. But you shouldn’t die trying to avenge a former boss.”  
“No! Mercury! You don’t understand!” Emerald pointed her gun at Mercury’s chin. “I should’ve been there to help Cinder that night. I failed, I wasn’t able to protect the only person to ever give me anything close to a family. I won’t fail her again.”  
  
Mercury observed Emerald’s gun warily, and came to the conclusion that Emerald, with her current mental state, wouldn’t hesitate to shoot him if he continued to disagree.  
“Alright,” he said with a sigh. “What do you need me to do.”  
“Help Tyrian hold the others at bay, I’ll come back to deal with them once I’m done with Nikos.”  
Mercury looked over at the ongoing battle, where Qrow and Ren were holding Tyrian down while Nora supercharged herself with some sort of pocket taser and hit Tyrian repeatedly with her hammer.    
Mercury rolled his eyes. “Sure thing, boss,” he said wearily, as he made his way towards the battle.  
Emerald turned her attention to Jaune and Pyrrha, still sitting on the pavement, looking at Pyrrha’s leg, which seemed to be glowing with some sort of white light.

“Jaune, what is this?” Pyrrha whispered, observing the warm white glow that pulsed from Jaune’s hands, and onto her wounded leg. Already, the bleeding from where her foot used to be, had disappeared entirely, and the pain faded with it.  
“I- I don’t know,” Jaune said. “This has never happened before.”  
“Well it doesn’t matter, keep going. They need my help!“  
Jaune shook his head and motioned toward the battle, and Pyrrha noted Nora painting Tyrian pink with her grenades. Losing multiple limbs (does a tail count as a limb? Pyrrha wasn’t sure) really did impede on the effectiveness of someone’s fighting style.  
Pyrrha let out a sigh of relief. “Maybe I’m just overreacting, they’ll be fi-“

Then, in a blur, something flew from a building and blasted Nora away, causing an entire apartment building to fall onto her. Jaune heard Ren call Nora’s name and run to try to find her. But before he could identify the mystery assailant, or go to help, a wall of flames cut him off from them. Jaune looked around as more flames surrounded him and Pyrrha on all sides.  
Turning to Pyrrha, he saw her staring in terror at someone emerging from the flames.  
“It’s that girl from the tournament…” Jaune whispered, “the one on Cinder’s team.”

But Pyrrha Nikos didn’t see Emerald emerge from the flames. Tyrian’s toxins clouding her mind, it seemed that Cinder Fall herself had risen from the grave to finish what she started.  
_‘No,’_ Pyrrha thought, _‘she isn’t alive. She can’t be alive. I- I killed her. She couldn’t have survived, could she? I knew I should’ve stabbed her more to be sure. If I had held on for another second to check for a pulse. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.’_  
“Pyrrha?” Jaune asked, as bent down to pick up Milo and Akouo. “Are you ok?”  
Seeing that Pyrrha wasn’t going to react, Jaune picked up Milo and jabbed the spearhead at Emerald, before she could react. Surprised by Jaune’s sudden attack, Emerald dropped the flame wall, and Jaune pressed his offense. For a few moments, he kept Emerald at bay with jabs and slashes, until Emerald blasted him with a jet of flames that sent him staggering backwards.    
Emerald launched fireball after fireball as she advanced, knocking Jaune back futher until he was on the ground beside Pyrrha.

“LEAVE HER ALONE!”  
A blur of rose petals extinguished Emerald’s fireballs, knocking her off of her feet. “It’s me that you all want!” the newly conscious Ruby said, “don’t hurt them.”  
Emerald scoffed. “You?” she asked, “You didn’t kill Cinder.”  
With a wave of her hand, Ruby was brushed away by a gust of wind, but she wasn’t ready to give up. Ruby burst into rose petals and once again, was blown away, launched into the fight between Qrow and Mercury Black. Turning her attention back to her prey, Emerald saw Jaune carrying Pyrrha away on his back.  
“Oh no you don’t,” she whispered, extending the chains on her sickles and launching one at the two.  
Noticing the sickle, Jaune threw Pyrrha to the side and raised Akouo, blocking the chain.  
“Sorry, are you ok?” she heard Jaune ask Pyrrha as they rounded the corner, “I didn’t mean to drop you so hard.”  
  
Intent in her pursuit, Emerald leapt up onto the roof of a half-demolished store. Watching Jaune carrying Pyrrha out of an arched gateway, Emerald smirked. They were leaving the abandoned village and going up a path that led to one of mountainous Anima’s many cave system, some sort of abandoned dust mine. One that she’d previously staked out as an ambush point. Had she found a reasonable way to lure her targets into the cave, it would’ve been a perfect point to launch her attack. It was pitch black. Narrow. And most importantly, it was a dead end. She might as well give Nikos one last glimmer of hope, before taking it away. It was only fair, after what Pyrrha did to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are with Chapter 3. Sorry that it's taken over a month to finish this chapter, I still feel like it isn't entirely complete but I didn't want to keep you all waiting much longer. 
> 
> As I said in the last two chapters, constructive criticisms and really any comments would be very much appreciated. I completely forgot in chapter 1 but I promise I'll reply to every one of them. 
> 
> Expect the next chapter soon. I hope.


	4. Dawn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Emerald closing in, and Jaune trying to face her head on, all Pyrrha can do is sit and hope that Jaune survives. Until somebody from her past returns to say a few words.

The cave was silent, besides the crunch of gravel beneath Jaune’s feet.   
“I think we’re far enough away now,” Jaune said, putting Pyrrha down. “I have a plan, we just-“  
“Jaune…” Pyrrha whispered, clutching her right arm. The bleeding had started again, and her blood was _purple_.

Jaune dropped to his knees and placed his hand over the wound that Tyrian had left.   
“Don’t move, Pyrrha,” he said, focusing on the wound. “I- whatever happened before, whatever I did, it healed your leg. I think it’s linking your aura with mine, if I can just do it again-“  
“Jaune…” Pyrrha whispered again. “Stop.”  
“What?” Jaune asked. “Why?”  
“If you’re using your aura to heal me, it might also be draining your own aura,” she replied. “You need to save it to escape.”  
“But Pyrrha, you could die!” Jaune protested.   
“If you waste your Aura on me, we’ll both die!” Pyrrha snapped back.   
  
She sighed. “Leave me here. I’m the reason she’s here.”  
Jaune shook his head, “I’d never leave you here, Pyrrha. I love you…”  
Pyrrha sat up and grabbed Jaune’s face before he could react, pulling him into a kiss. Snatched her shield from Jaune’s other hand, and began trying to crawl towards the entrance of the cave.  
“I love you too Jaune, which is why I have to do this alone-“  
“No. Pyrrha,” Jaune said, staring her in the eyes. “I’m the one who should fight her. I can last longer against her, you focus on finding another way out.”  
“Jaune,” Pyrrha said. “I won’t let you die for me!”  
“That isn’t a choice that you get to make!” Jaune snapped.   
He spoke again, quieter. “You’re one of the only people who ever believed in me. Please, believe in me now. I’m not the best fighter, but your training has helped me become so much stronger. I’ll distract her until you can find a way out, or call the others here.”  
“But Jaune,” Pyrrha said. “Cinder being alive is my fault. I tried to kill her, but I failed. And now she’s going to kill both of us.”  
Jaune blinked. “Cinder?” he asked. “Cinder’s dead. Her powers went to Emerald, the girl on her team. That’s who’s chasing us.”

Pyrrha’s eyes widened. Emerald? They were being chased by someone else with the powers of the Fall Maiden? Then Cinder really was dead.   
But what if Jaune was the one who saw wrong? What if Emerald was given the powers of a different maiden? Why did it even matter which maiden she was? Jaune stood no chance.   


* * *

 

 

But before Pyrrha had a chance to voice her concerns, Jaune had taken Akouo, and now he was going to face Emerald head on. After all she’d vowed not to let anyone else die, here she was, letting Jaune die to protect-

“Salutations, Pyrrha Nikos!”                    
Pyrrha’s eyes widened and she froze. Suddenly, she was all too aware of the soft crackle of lightning dust that filled the silence of the caves.  
Slowly turning around, she saw a dull green glow, emanating from behind her. There, facing her atop a small rock, was the decapitated head of Penny Polendina.

Memories rushed back to Pyrrha. Penny, being torn into pieces by her own blades. Lying on the floor of the Amity Colosseum with dead, unresponsive eyes, as the whole world watched. But this Penny wasn’t dead. She sat a severed head, smiling the same warm smile that she had before the fight, even as green sparks shot from her neck and face.   
“It’s an honour to finally meet you.”  
Tears began welling up in Pyrrha’s eyes, as she looked at the synthetic girl in front of her. “Penny… I…”  
Pyrrha’s words were halted by a stream of tears, as the moment overwhelmed her. While Jaune was outside dying for her, Pyrrha was faced with another whose death she caused.

“This is going to be so much fun!”  
Floating blades, just like the ones that Penny used, formed in the air, pointed at Pyrrha. The roars of an invisible crowd pounded the inside of her head.  
Ears ringing, Pyrrha covered her ears with her hands and shut her eyes, trying to block out the noise, as rational thought disappeared from her mind. When her tears forced her eyes back open, she wasn’t in the cave anymore. The world seemed to shift and contort, the Amity Colosseum phasing in and out of existence around her.

Penny’s blades multiplied. One became two became four became eight, and soon, Pyrrha was surrounded by a cloud of swords, all pointed at her.   
Everything was hazy now. She remembered this situation vaguely, as if it’d happened before. The memory tugged on her, as if compelling her not to move. She _deserved_ this. She did something terrible and this was her punishment. Pyrrha lowered her head, making no attempts to resist.

Yet, another part of her cried out. Part of her held on. There was something she needed to do. Someone- someone she wanted to see.

The swords pulled back, and began to fly towards her. No- this wasn’t right. She had to hold on for- for- for somebody. A friend? No, something stronger than that. J-J-

“JAUNE!”  
Pyrrha’s head snapped upward, and her semblance rippled through the air, pushing every sword away. The blades cut through the false reality, and she found herself back inside the cave, swords stuck in every wall.

“Friend Pyrrha?” Penny’s decapitated head asked. “Why are you crying?”  
Pyrrha didn’t answer, as she looked around the cave. Milo was just lying there, beside Penny. Jaune had gone into battle against a MAIDEN, without even taking the spear with him.   
“Pyrrha Nikos. When I get upset, I remember my friends. Like Friend Ruby!” Penny said.  
Yeah, like that’s helpful.  
But Penny continued, “because Friend Ruby would always want me to be safe. She pushed me away from a truck, even though it almost hurt her.”  
Pyrrha recognized the story. Ruby had told everyone how Penny stopped a truck with her bare hands, though she never did explain how. In hindsight, it made sense, now that she knew Penny was a robot.  
“I was very confused when Friend Ruby did that. She could’ve been hurt a lot. She didn’t even worry about herself. She told me a week later that she was a huntress. She cared about me, but she still wouldn’t saved me even if-“  
“If you didn’t know her” Pyrrha whispered.  
Penny blinked. “Oh, did Friend Ruby already tell you? Are you friends with Friend Ruby? I love when my friends are friends with eachother!”

Pyrrha began thinking. Yes, Jaune went out to protect her. But he would’ve done it no matter who he was protecting. Jaune wasn’t dying out there because of her, he was choosing to protect her, like she’d chosen to protect him.

But she still couldn’t just lie there and not help. Her hand wrapped around Milo and changed it to Walking-Stick mode, lifting herself up. She pulled one of Penny’s swords from the stone, and began slowly walking out of the cave. She turned to thank Penny, but she was already gone.

 

* * *

  
  
Outside the cave, Emerald was having a blast.   
“Why? Why are you doing this?” her opponent asked.  
Emerald yawned, as she launched another jet of flames. She was getting tired of him.   
“I’m doing this,” she stated. “Because your girlfriend in there killed Cinder. So I’ll kill her.”  
Jaune smiled. “In that case, you won’t be getting your wish.”  
How naïve   
“Pyrrha’s probably already out of another exit to the cave, you’ll never find her now.” he said. “Sure, I’ll die, but she’ll be safe!”  
Emerald laughed. “The cave’s a dead end,” she said. “You’re just throwing away your life as she bleeds out in the cave.”

Emerald tried to conjure a blast of wind, but her powers faltered, and created only a weak gust. But Jaune was already too weak to exploit the sudden failing of Emerald’s powers, and collapsed to his knees as he surged towards her.

“I guess this is the end for you now,” Emerald said. “I wonder how your girlfriend will react, seeing your body.”  
  
“I- I won’t. Because he won’t die!” Pyrrha.  
Emerald turned to the cave mouth. Now, she was face-to-face with Pyrrha Nikos. The “invincible girl”. The one who killed Cinder. The one who took away everything.  
Emerald scoffed, was this really all she had. She stood, limping, one arm holding a crutch, and the other seemingly pointing an imaginary weapon towards her. Purple blood trailed from behind her, dripping from her arm.

“Pyrrha, what are you doing?” Jaune asked.  
Pyrrha smiled a warm, infuriating smile to Jaune. “She said it herself, we can’t escape. If we’re dying here, we’re dying together.”  
Jaune nodded, as he stood up. “That’s oddly comforting.”  
  
Emerald prepared herself to fight, when a shot rang out and she felt a sharp impact on her back. Turning around, she saw three pink grenades flying towards her, and she quickly cut them all down. It was the rest of Pyrrha’s little team, standing, weapons drawn, in a Mistral Airship. They seemed not at all worse for wear. Had Mercury and Tyrian fallen that quickly.

That’s when she noticed Mercury, standing on a branch of a nearby tree.   
“Get them,” she mouthed, motioning towards the airship.   
Mercury shook his head. Seriously?  
  
“Give up!” Ruby shouted. “If you hurt Pyrrha and Jaune, I’ll- I’ll-“  
A long black arm flew from the forest, flying through the open doors of the airship and dragging Qrow out the other side. A Nuckelavee. This was their chance.

  
Emerald once again motioned for Mercury to attack, and Mercury once again refused. Trying and failing to ignite a flame in her hand, Emerald sighed. She was outnumbered and now her powers weren’t working. She wanted to enact revenge on Nikos, but there was no way she’d get through the Arc boy before the rest of his team piled onto her. Deciding to cut her losses, Emerald turned around and ran into the forest.  
  
“I can’t believe that actually turned out ok.” Jaune said, collapsing from exhaustion. Pyrrha, similarly exhausted, allowed herself to pass out atop Jaune.

 

* * *

 

 

Pyrrha’s eyes shot wide open. Jaune. Emerald. Penny. What had happened.

She was in a bed. Looking around, the architecture was distinctly Mistralian.  
“She’s awake!” she heard Jaune shout. Within minutes, everyone had filed into the room. There was Jaune, Ruby, Ren, Nora and Qrow, as expected. But- was that- was that Weiss and Yang from Ruby’s team? And who was that boy with Ozpin’s cane?

 

Ruby scratched her head sheepishly. “There’s… a lot to explain.”  
Qrow nodded. “We’ve been preparing to acquire the Spring Maiden. Apparently Headmaster Lionheart has had some kind of breakthrough, we’ll fill you up on the way.  


“So- so we’re in…” Pyrrha began  
“Yes, Pyrrha.” Jaune said. “Welcome to Haven.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, that took even longer than the last one. I promise that the last chapter will be done by the month's end. This one I didn't really have an idea for going in, but I've got the next one planned entirely in my head.
> 
> Any comments are appreciated, criticism or compliments.


	5. Daybreak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day has come. Emerald may have failed last time, but now she has double the allies. Pyrrha Nikos will burn, but not before she loses everyone she loves.

“It’s time we made our move.”  
Emerald sat around a wooden rectangular table with her team. She and Raven placed themselves on opposite ends. To her right, projections of Adam Taurus and Hazel Rainart sat. To her left, was Mercury, and the Spring Maiden, Vernal.

“Already?” asked Vernal. “You said that your power was-“  
“It’s fine.” Emerald said. “We have the advantage of numbers and surprise, my powers failing shouldn’t be an issue.”  
“I don’t see why there needs to be a fight at all,” Adam said. “We have a teleporter, we can just kill them in their sleep!”  
Raven shook her head. “My brother can sense when I teleport to him, and wake up the others. They could potentially escape into the streets.”  
Adam was noticeably unsatisfied with this answer, and opened his mouth to speak again, but Emerald cut him off.  
“Raven’s right,” she said. “We can’t possibly lose this fight, making sure that they’re trapped inside the school means we can safely isolate the silver eyed girl. Salem wants her alive, two maidens in an enclosed space could easily end up killing her by accident.”  
‘ _Besides,’_  she thought to herself,  _‘the look on Pyrrha Nikos’ face when we destroy a second school around her and take the relic is worth the risk.’_

Adam sighed. “My forces are severely depleted. Sienna Khan had more loyalists than I expected,” he said. “I had to… cull the herd.”  
“Do you even care about the Faunus at this point?” Mercury asked. “This feels more and more like an ego trip for you.”  
“SHUT UP!” Adam snapped. “I WILL BRING FREEDOM TO MY PEOPLE.”  
Mercury chuckled, until Emerald placed a hand on his shoulder. He felt her hand heat up, a not-so-subtle warning.  
“Ok, ok.” Mercury said. “Sorry, bull boy.”  
“If I was in the room with you,” Adam said slowly, “you’d already be dead.”

Emerald shook her head. “Look, we aren’t getting anywhere by fighting eachother,” she said. “Leonardo Lionheart isn’t the best secret keeper, we had to act before his deception is found out.”  
Raven nodded. “I’ll meet with the White Fang in Mistral. From there, I can open a portal to Vernal and we can take them by surprise.”

* * *

_An arrow flew through the air, breaking the tubes carrying Amber’s soul into Pyrrha’s body. Orange energy began flowing from the tubes into Cinder, until Ozpin quickly slammed his fist on the emergency shutoff button. As the machine shut down, Pyrrha ran beside Ozpin._  
“Go!” Ozpin shouted. “Find Glynda, Ironwood, Qrow, bring them here right away!”  
“But I can help!” Pyrrha protested.  
“You’ll only get in the way.” Ozpin replied.   
“She was right about you,” Cinder said. “Such arrogance.”

* * *

Emerald sat, pacing back and forth in Raven’s command tent.

“Has anyone heard from Raven?” she asked. “Hazel saw them enter the main chamber two minutes ago!”  
Vernal shrugged. “Raven takes her time with these things. She’ll send a portal soon.”  
Right on cue, a large red portal opened up in the middle of the room, and Emerald hurriedly ran through the portal, firing a fireball in front of her. As she stumbled out of it, she saw Ruby on the ground, having been hit by the fireball. The others all drew their weapons. Glancing back, Emerald saw Mercury and Vernal exit the portal. Taking a break to calm herself, she prepared to fight.

“Come on guys,” said Mercury. “Is that any way to greet your old friends?”  
“Everybody stay calm!” Qrow shouted.  
As planned, the doors to the chamber opened and Hazel entered. “The White Fang is prepping demolitions and securing the school grounds. No one’s getting in. And no one’s gettin’ out.”  
Emerald breathed a silent sigh of relief. Everything was going according to plan.

“Raven. Tell me.” Qrow began. “How long have you been with them?”  
Emerald quickly glanced towards Raven, who stared at Qrow with a seething hatred. “This isn’t a permanent arrangement,” Raven answered, her voice devoid of emotion. “I do what I need to survive.”  
Qrow glanced up at Lionheart, who jumped at Qrow’s gaze. “And you? How long have you been betraying Oz?”  
Leo tried to form a response, but Qrow continued. “You sit on the Mistral Council. You have information of every huntsman and huntress in the kingdom. And you gave it all to her.”  
“I-“  
“I couldn’t find any of them! Because you let her kill them!”

Emerald was barely registering the conversation around her. She was fixated on one individual. Pyrrha Nikos. She was a mess, barely standing on a single leg, and holding herself up with her spear in walking-stick mode. Her right arm hung limp from her shoulder, a functionless dead weight.  
Nikos stood defiantly, staring Emerald in the eyes, but she was in no condition to fight. Pyrrha was frail, almost skeletal. Her armour, shone of fresh polish, someone seemed to have taken meticulous care of it, yet no amount of care hid the cracks and scorch marks that covered the armour. It was incredible that she even survived Tyrian’s poison, and it had evidently taken its toll. How far the Invincible Girl had fallen.

Jaune and Ruby soon noticed Emerald’s fixation on Pyrrha, and moved in front of her. They’d still die to protect Cinder’s murderer? Emerald’s anger overcame her, and she began walking towards them.  
“Restrain the others, but don’t kill them.” Emerald glared at Pyrrha.

Yang ran towards Emerald, but she launched her away with a blast of wind. Mercury leapt after her, keeping her occupied.  
Vernal and Raven began engaging Weiss and Raven, Hazel faced off against Ren and Nora, and some small child that Emerald didn’t recognise was fighting Lionheart. This just left Ruby and Jaune between her and Pyrrha.

Jaune attacked first, Ruby following closely behind. Emerald sidestepped, causing Jaune to stumble behind her. She fired a pulse of blue light that encased him in ice. She narrowly dodged two successive strikes from Ruby, countering with an upward slash.   
Changing her sickles to revolver-mode, she pushed Ruby back, imbuing each shot with a different element. Ruby blocked every one, but her scythe was now covered in tiny chunks of rock and ice. Ruby broke into rose petals, and flew behind Emerald, disorienting her. Jaune broke out of his iced prison, and swung at Emerald. She turned to block both his and Ruby’s attacks, spinning and throwing both the weapons from their hands. Ruby tried to grab Crescent Rose, and Emerald threw her chain-sickle to wrap around her, throwing her into Jaune. As both tried to stand, she launched into a flurry of elementally-charged attacks that Jaune’s shield could only barely defend against.

It seemed that Emerald’s allies were having similar success. Yang had leapt up to the interior balcony, and then Mercury had kicked her back down, utterly destroying a section of floor. Vernal threw the Schnee Heiress around like a ragdoll, making it seem effortless without even exhibiting any maiden abilities.   
Hazel was screaming about something or other, and began injecting lightning dust into his own body. Emerald hadn’t seen Hazel fight seriously yet, and being entirely honest, it unnerved her. Ren and Nora stood no chance. Leo seemed temporarily out of the fight, lying in a heap on the floor, but Emerald never expected him to be much help anyways. Qrow and Raven seemed to be evenly matched, but Raven made some clever use of her portals to gain a slight upper hand.  

Seeing no potential way they could lose, Emerald continued to attack. One strike knocked Jaune out, and she focused her attention entirely on Ruby.  
“Wait!” Pyrrha shouted. She turned to see Pyrrha, her shield in her left hand, limp towards her. “It’s me you want!”  
“You’re gonna try to die for them so they can’t die for you?” Emerald asked. “Cute.”  
Pyrrha shook her head. “Not this time. We’ll beat you together.”   
Ruby and Pyrrha attacked at once, though it seemed more like Ruby attacked alone. Pyrrha was slow, sluggish, and barely hit hard enough to make a difference. Emerald wrapped a chain around Milo, pulling the walking stick from her hand. She instantly collapsed to the ground. Pyrrha lifted her hand and the metal in Emerald’s sickles bent and contorted, becoming useless for fighting. No matter, as long as the chains links attached to eachother.  
She threw one around Pyrrha and the other around Ruby, before solidifying both of them with earth magic. For good measure, she froze both of them.

Elsewhere, each of her allies overcame their respective opponent. Mercury was pretty much just toying with Yang now, Vernal had knocked Weiss out and was observing a sapphire that she took from Weiss’ necklace. It’d probably be worth a lot once everything was done. Raven had even managed to subdue her brother.

Everyone besides the small child with the cane lay bloodied and unconscious around Hazel, with Leo standing in beside him, staring in abject horror. Now it was time for stage two.  
“Lionheart, open the vault. Vernal, come with me.”   
As Leo opened the passage to the vault, Raven moved to follow them. Emerald shook her head.  
“Raven, you stay here.” She said. “You need to keep anyone from escaping, I want Nikos to wake up to Haven in ruins, her friends and lover executed in front of her, and me with the relic.”

Raven noticeably hesitated, sharing a glance with Vernal, but she didn’t follow. Vernal and Emerald entered the elevator to the vault.  

* * *

  _Time froze for a brief moment, and Ozpin landed a dozen hits on Cinder. As the force of the attacks all landed at once, Cinder was launched back. Ozpin was exhausted, his aura almost gone. Even if he had the edge right now, Cinder Fall was beginning to understand the true extent of her new powers. This wasn’t a fight he was going to win._

 _Right on cue, Cinder exploded into a blinding fireball._  
“If this is the end, I’d like to enjoy it on my own terms,” his predecessor said. Ozpin nodded, handing over control to the second soul that inhabited his body.  
“It’s been wonderful, Osburt,” he said. “I’ll miss you, and I’ll carry on your work to stop her.”  
Osburt formed a shield with the remainder of his aura, and braced himself for impact.

* * *

 

The ice around Pyrrha broke minutes later, and she looked around. She was tied up, leaned against a wall in the chamber. Ruby, Yang, Weiss, Ren, Nora, Qrow, Jaune, and even the boy who was apparently Ozpin were all defeated and captured. Oscar, as Ozpin’s new host was called, was covered in blood and seemed excessively beaten. Hazel screamed at him, as he continued to punch him. Leo charged a shot, preparing to shoot anyone who moved, and Raven watched a hole where a statue had previously been, her face unreadable.  

As minutes passed, the others began waking up too. Ruby tried to reason with Lionheart, who guiltily shook his head. Yang and Weiss both, unsuccessfully, tried to escape their bonds, but their auras were both completely expended.   
But as more time passed, Raven became noticeably nervous. Eventually, a scream that sounded like it came from Vernal echoed from inside the cave, and she turned around, cutting through Jaune’s bonds. She threw herself into the hole in the ground, transforming into a bird to move quicker.

Jaune, now free, acted quickly, raising his arms. A wave of white rippled through the room, and Pyrrha felt his aura fill hers. Jaune collapsed from the effort, but he’d done more than enough. He really did have a lot of it.

Ruby broke free from her bonds first, turning into rose petals and tackling Lionheart to the ground. Qrow was next, transforming into a bird and going to help her neice.  
Ren sliced through his bonds with a small green knife that Pyrrha had never seen before. Ren cut Nora free, and Nora ran between Oscar and Hazel as he prepared a particularly powerful punch. Taking the electricity herself, Nora picked up Hazel and slammed him into the wall.

Weiss and Yang freed themselves with their newfound strength, and Yang leapt in to help Nora. Weiss grabbed her sword, which lay nearby, and cut Pyrrha free. As Pyrrha tried to stand, she created a small glyph, summoning the leg of an Arma Gigas to replace Pyrrha’s own. A temporary and slightly uncomfortable solution, but it let her use Milo as a weapon. Pulling her shield to her with her semblance, she turned to face Mercury.

Mercury laughed. “You can’t win like this,” he said, motioning towards Pyrrha’s limp right arm. Pyrrha just smiled, as she raised her arm, pulling Milo to her hand.   
“Tricks won’t be enough to save you here, Invincible Girl.” Mercury taunted  
“Why are you doing this?” Pyrrha asked. “We didn’t do anything to hurt you.”  
Mercury glared at Pyrrha, dropping all indifferent smugness he previously had. “Bold, coming from you of all people,” he said. “I- I can’t say I completely understand it, but Cinder meant EVERYTHING to Emerald. And then YOU took Cinder away! She hasn’t been the same since that day. You didn’t even leave a body for her to grieve.”  
Pyrrha’s eyes widened.  _“What?_ _”_ _  
_

* * *

_Ozpin coughed up blood as he tried to stand. Osburt’s presence was gone. Their souls were completely merged._  
He saw Cinder, not yet aware that he hadn’t died, taking a moment to breathe. This was his only chance. Grabbing his cane, he limped to Amber’s chamber. Ripping it open, he pulled a small knife from within his coat.   
“Oz- ozpin?” Amber asked weakly, consciousness returning. “Wh-what’s happening?”  
“I’m sorry.” Ozpin simply said. He brought the knife down on Amber, and as life left her eyes, the rest of the Maiden Powers exited her. They sped past Cinder, gaining her attention, and continued up the tower. Not for the first time in his immortal life, Ozpin opened his mouth to speak, only to be destroyed by a jet of flame.

* * *

 

 _“No!”  
_ Pain coursed through Emerald’s entire body, as waves of flame obscured her vision. Beside her, Vernal tried desperately to protect herself. Emerald’s powers refused to work, and it seemed that Vernal was having the same issue. The flames stopped for a second, and Emerald tried to summon her own flames.  She felt her aura shatter, and looked down to find the stinger of a Queen Lancer had pierced her chest. To her left a Nuckelavee arm tightened around Vernal’s.

Emerald finally had a good look at what she was fighting. It was a humanoid beast with the torso of a Beringal, and a Nuckelavee arm and Queen Lancer Stinger as arms. It hovered above the air with two mismatched Manticore and Griffin wings that caused it to fly at a slight angle. In the place of legs, was a long tail which branched out into three heads, A Sea Feilong and the two heads of a King Taijitu. The entire creature was covered in spikes and spots of white bone from an assortment of different creatures, a terrible amalgamation of screaming Grimm heads protruded from every part of it. But that wasn’t the most horrifying part. The worst part was the head.

A human’s head.

Cinder’s head.

“Cinder? You’re alive?” Emerald asked. Her pain forgotten.  
“YOU HAVE MY POWERS!” ‘Cinder’ screamed. “THE MAIDEN POWERS BELONG TO ME. THEY’RE DESTINED TO BE MINE.”  
“C-cinder?” Emerald whispered. “Don’t you recognize me?”  
“YOU’RE A MISERABLE STREET RAT HAD THE AUDACITY TO TAKE WHAT WAS MINE!”  
No. This, this wasn’t Cinder speaking. It couldn’t be.  
“Cinder, please,” she said. “It’s me, Emerald. You saved me. You gave me a home. You wouldn’t kill me. You said you loved me-“  
“YOU STILL BELIEVE THAT? YOU’RE AN ANT COMPARED TO ME.”  
Emerald felt her powers drain from her body, but she didn’t even care. “Y-you mean. You never-“  
“YOU REALLY THOUGHT SOMEONE SO MUCH WEAKER THAN ME COULD BE WORTH ANYTHING TO ME?”

This couldn’t actually be Cinder, could it? Cinder had always been cold and calculating, but she did love her. She’d said it herself.  
“Cinder, I love you. You said you loved me-“  
“WELL I DON’T. I NEVER HAVE.”  
Tears began to fall, and she found her sadness replaced with rage. Whether or not this was really Cinder, she was right. Cinder never did love her. Emerald always convinced herself that behind Cinder’s cold, calculating façade, she’d really cared. That there had to be some reason besides her semblance that Cinder had chosen her. But Cinder had chosen the White Fang and never once cared about their deaths. She’d watched the ship carrying Roman Torchwick and Neopolitan explode, and barely blinked. Even now, Emerald had heard from neither. Why did she think she was any different?  
Salem didn’t care. None of her inner circle cared. Hell, Mercury was the only one who ever tried to connect with her, and he still abandoned her during the last fight to save his own skin.

She screamed in anguish. The remainder of her powers erupted outwards, sending Cinder flying back, caused her to retract her arms. Just as she did, something landed on the far end of the chamber. Raven Branwen shot like a bullet into Cinder’s chest, burying her blade into her. Her eyes burned with the flame of a maiden as she sliced both of Cinder’s arms off. The Sea Feilong head snapped at her, and she threw her blade through its throat, freezing it solid. Cinder opened her mouth and began to spew a continuous stream of fire. Pulling another blade from her sheath, Raven froze Cinder’s mouth sliced her head from her shoulders.

“Some maiden,” she muttered, as the body of Cinder fell to the ground. She began to disintegrate, from the bottom up. Even Cinder’s head disintegrated. The maiden powers flew up from her into Emerald, who was sobbing on the floor of the vault.  
“So soulless that you’re practically a Grimm,” muttered Raven. She froze for a moment, remembering Vernal, and turned to see her lying on the ground, clutching her chest.  
“Vernal,” she whispered. “You’re bleeding.”  
Vernal coughed, and tried to speak, but Raven interrupted her. “Don’t waste your breath. I made a bond a man with a healing semblance. We haven’t been on the… best of terms, but he’ll help you.”

Raven opened a portal, and picked up Vernal to carry her through. Looking back at Emerald, she shrugged and touched the golden door of the fault. As it began to open, she walked through the portal.   
“Enjoy the other half of your powers, and that relic if you survive,” she said. “Tell your master that I’ve opened the vault, she has no reason to hunt me anymore.”  
With that, the portal closed.

Pyrrha threw Mercury up with her semblance, twisting his metal legs into a knot. Looking around, she was pleased to note that now, her friends were winning. Yang punched Hazel through the door of the chamber, though she seemed to hesitate when looking through it, as if she saw something.  
Lionheart was no match for Qrow and Ruby, and was now desperately making excused. Outside, she heard voices, and some bright lights shone from the windows. Yang’s look of shock had become a small smile, so Pyrrha assumed whatever happened outside was good.   
  
Bursting through the wall above the door, Hazel landed in front of Yang and began to attack again, but a long black ribbon wrapped around his face and pulled him back. Yang advanced and and began punching him repeatedly. Seeing that all was lost, Hazel pulled the ribbon off and ran past Yang, grabbing Mercury and running away.   
“Is nobody going to stop them?” asked Jaune.  
Pyrrha nearly collapsed from exhaustion. “I don’t know if we can.”  
Accepting that answer, Jaune peered down the hole to the vault. “We should probably figure out what’s happened down there. Ruby?”  
Ruby turned to rose petals, picking up Yang, Pyrrha and Jaune on her way. The four made their way into the vault.

Exiting the other side, the four instantly noticed the closing of a red portal. Running to it, Yang found a discarded blue blade. Picking it up, she shattered it in her hand. Ruby ran further forward into the vault, slowly approaching a pulsing blue light.

Pyrrha and Jaune noticed something else, a soft sobbing. In the corner of the vault was a mint-haired girl. The one tried to kill them. Emerald.  
Noticing them, Emerald stood up. She was bleeding intensely from her chest, but didn’t even seem to register it.   
“I’m sorry,” she croaked, her voice broken and rough. “If-if”  
Emerald hesitated.   
“If you want to get revenge, I won’t stop you.”  
Pyrrha and Jaune looked at eachother and back at Emerald. She had her eyes closed, bracing herself in silent resignation.

Jaune placed his hand on Emerald’s shoulder, and she momentarily fliched. “Do your worst.” She whispered.  
Jaune smiled, and activated his semblance. Her eyes widened as she felt Jaune’s aura flow into hers. “What are you doing?”  
Jaune was too deep in concentration to reply, and faltered for a moment as his own aura nearly ran out. Rushing to join them, Pyrrha held Jaune’s hand, and reached out to hold Emerald’s. Her own semblance flowed into Jaune and Emerald, and the wound in Emerald’s chest closed.   
Tears streaming from her face, Emerald felt herself pulled into a hug. This, this is what being cared for felt like.  
Jaune, smiled. The forces of this mysterious Salem were retreating, Haven was saved, Pyrrha was alive and happier than ever, and now they had a powerful new friend in the form of an old enemy. Sure, Salem was still out there, but for the first time in a long time, he knew that everything was going to be alright-

* * *

 

“JAUNE!”

Jaune snapped awake in the Team RNJR House.   
He slowly rolled over, willing himself up. Ruby ran in, even more excited than usual.  
“Can you believe we’re going on a train? To Argus? We get to visit Atlas!”  
As Ruby droned on, Jaune sighed. He had that dream again.  
_‘Pyrrha’s dead,’_  he told himself.  _‘Nothing is ever going to change that, so why can’t I just move on?’_  
Jaune sighed as he got out of bed. One day, he’d put everything at Beacon behind him, but that day hadn’t come yet. Ruby softened as she noticed him.  
“You’re still thinking about her, aren’t you?” she asked. “I miss her too.”  
Jaune smiled. “Yeah. But at least I have you guys.”  
Ruby smiled back. “Yeah, you do.”  
  
  
  
  
  
  


 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Elsewhere, Emerald shot up in her small sleeping quarters.   
“What. Was. That?”  
That dream was insane, completely unrealistic, probably the result of her overexerting her powers at Haven.

 

But she had to admit, it felt pretty good…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy heck, that was a lot longer than I thought it would be. Either way, it's done now. I hope you enjoyed reading this, and would really appreciate any constructive criticism or other comments. 
> 
> I think I might want to do a sequel sometime in the future, but for now I have a few other fic ideas I want to develop a bit.


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